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Concept updated #3

Brief outline of documentary:

My documentary is based on girls’ body image in today’s society and how teenage girls are influenced to think a certain way. This is a big influential ‘trend’ in society today, that pressures young girls to look a particular way through the use of media. I will be interviewing someone who has been affected by the portrayal of certain body images, going to extremes to achieve this ‘perfect’ body that everyone supposedly wants. As well as a males point of view on this topic in society. I would like to interview someone of the older generation and get a depth understanding of their thoughts as they have seen the development and change over the years of the portrayal of body image in the media. The last perspective I am planning to interview is someone with a professional background, e.g. counselor or someone who is in the health industry. The documentary will also include aspects that have contributed to this issue and the background and evolution of body image throughout the years. I have chosen this idea as I think it is a strong issue within society today, I know many people who have been affected by it, including myself. Therefore it is something that I am interested in and would like to investigate further.

The purpose of the documentary:

To raise awareness to show just how serious this issue has got and how many people it affects. I want to show viewers the different types of views people hold and their reasons behind it. I want to express the importance of this issue to society, especially teenage girls, by exploring the topic in depth, by providing perspectives, background research and how this ideal image has changed over the years. Most of all I would like to show how the media’s portrayal of body image has affected young girls. However because this topic affects so many different people, it will also have an impact on the older generation, especially parents as they can see just how serious this issue is. As the purpose is to raise awareness, it could influence and encourage teachers, students etc to make a change and take action to do something about body image, especially in schools.

Ideas and messages I will be exploring in my documentary:

I would like to send a message out to viewers, in which will make teenagers open their eyes as to how this ideal body image is affecting society, and their lives should not be controlled by it. I want to show that teenage girls can be happy without having to have this perfect body that everyone supposedly wants. i would also like to show other members of the audience just how pressured girls are today with these certain expectations of body image, and why this is. Therefore it will hopefully influence people e.g. boys, teachers, parents, other students to have a more open opinion on this topic and see this side of girls body image in society today.

How will the documentary appeal to the target audience:

The documentary is aimed at teenage girls. The documentary will show interviews of girls in which this issue relates to, giving the target audience someone to relate to. It will also contain background information from magazines and other media sources, with popular celebrities and social networking which has influenced teenage girls thinking into this perfect body idea. Teenage girls can engage with this as social media has become apart of most teenagers everyday life, and young women are exposed to the media and the portrayal of inspiring women almost everyday, therefore they can feel connected with the documentary as many aspects it includes, they will have come across during their life. This documentary could also appeal to teenage boys because it features a males perspective and snippets of what their body expectations are like today, even though it focuses on girls. Parents will be targeted as it is informative and will provide them with an insight into many different perspectives on the issue. therefore it will raise their awareness.

The documentary will have to be around 8 minutes in order to fit in all the different perspectives, the background and the issue of this topic. If I organise my time wisely, and use any time during school to my advantage, I should be on track in terms of finishing on time without being to rushed or stressed.

I will be researching the background to the issue, and how it has developed over time. This will be backed up with specific evidence from magazine portrayal of body image, other blogs and people’s opinion as well as articles on the Internet. I want to get a general view from forums or blogs of people discussing this topic, this will help give me a broader understanding of the topic.

Personnel

Myself, and my partner will be involved throughout this process, as we will be in charge of camera work, directing, writing the script, editing, sound etc. it will also involve people who have followed this trend within society, as well as those who are against how body image is portrayed today.

Locations

For this documentary, the interviews will either be set at a local gym, showing the environment many are exposed to daily, to help achieve this so called ideal body image. Another location will be filming interviews with a blank background, focusing on the interviewee. There will be small snippets of footage from a busy area filled with people. This will show the many different types of body shapes and sizes there are.

Equipment

The camera, tripod and any other special equipment can be borrowed from school. The editing programme can either be done on my laptop or the school computers.

In terms of transport, I will need to get around to various locations for filming either by public transport (bus) or using my own car. This should not be a problem as my partner and I both have separate cars we can take as we are unable to go together.

Releases

I will have to get permission from the interviewees, ensuring they are willing to and know what the purpose of the documentary is for and what it will be used for. I may have to get permission to use certain footage from online if I come across copyright rules.

Graphics and special effects?

I will most likely not need to use any special effects or graphics in this documentary. If I do however, it will be done through the editing programme that the school uses.

What problems might you encounter and how might you solve them?

It may difficult to organise appropriate times to meet with the interviewees as I will have to find a suitable time for everyone. I may have to work during weekends, as people have jobs and are busy also, or I may have to compromise something to make time if I cannot find any other solutions.

I may discover through filming or editing that my sound or footage is not the best quality to use in the documentary. As a result, I will either have to reshoot scenes or find better equipment that is more reliable and professional, producing higher quality work.

We may struggle with getting certain responses from our interviewees e.g. our male interviewee could give us a different perspective to what we were expecting. This would affect our film as it would not show what we were intending to get across. To help prevent this from happening we can tell them in advance the purpose of our documentary and what aspect we are showing.

The documentary could potentially focus too much on girls, therefore not meeting our target audience, therefore we will have to include perspectives that could relate to different members of the public. During editing, we could include information on how different audience member could be affected e.g. parents, males, older generation.